Nemanja Matic headed their best opportunity over during a second-half spell of dominance that was punctured by Murray but Bournemouth had also conjured up plenty of decent chances before that, and Chelsea were grateful that Thibaut Courtois, back in goal after a three-month absence, was able to carry on where he had left off.
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It leaves Chelsea a massive 14 points adrift of Manchester United in the top-four places and Mourinho feels a Champions League spot could be beyond them now.
A loss would consign Chelsea to the Europa League – which, in my opinion, we’d have as much chance of winning as the Champions League – and consign Mourinho onto the discarded pile of managers for the second time. He’s part of one of the best clubs in the world, he won many titles last year… this year it’s a bit more difficult but it’s football; every player, every club, goes through hard times. “It is that our objective is to finish top four”, he said.
The Cherries are out of the bottom three but the feeling of elation he and his players felt at Stamford Bridge was more of an echo of last term’s glory.
“We’ve got the Special One”, Bournemouth fans chanted about their 38-year-old manager, adopting Mourinho’s self-styled description.
A victory over Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday night will guarantee them a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
Glenn Murray’s 82nd-minute goal for Bournemouth condemned Chelsea to their worst defeat of a wretched season on Saturday, while Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick fired Leicester City top of the Premier League.
No team with the Blues’ current tally of 15 points from 15 games has ever finished higher than EIGHTH since the inception of the Premier League. You realise that was an individual moment where the player did better than he’s doing. Chelsea will win matches and come out of that area.
The club are struggling up front it seems and there’s more reports indicating Jose Mourinho wants to add to his firepower.
Mourinho took training yesterday and knows he needs to lift his shell-shocked players for one of the biggest games of his career.
“Personally I am delighted to keep a clean sheet – that’s very important to me”.
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However, it remains to be seen whether or not Chelsea will allow Mourinho have the final say on targets or, instead, pursue players the club believe will be good signings regardless of who is in charge. He was one of those who scored for fun at Barcelona – well at least until Luis Suarez came to town – he was signed for getting something done on the pitch and instead of playing on the wings, Pedro could provide that goal scoring touch in the middle. “It was really emotional in the dressing room afterwards, so I’m so proud of them”. “You think there is an evolution but the next day you realise it’s not evolution it was just an individual moment, and to get results you have to be consistent and we are not because of some individuals”.
